Space Race Surge: South Korea, NASA, China, and India Take Bold Steps in Space Exploration

South Korea plans a Mars landing by 2045, launching its first space agency to elevate its space economy. NASA's Lucy spacecraft unravels the dynamic history of asteroid Dinkinesh. China's Galactic Energy successfully launches satellites, and India's Agnikul Cosmos achieves a milestone with its Agnibaan rocket. Ursa Major advances US hypersonic capabilities.

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

South Korea plans Mars landing in 2045 as it launches first space agency

South Korea plans to make a Mars landing by 2045 and spend 100 trillion won ($72.6 billion) until then on space exploration, President Yoon Suk Yeol said on Thursday at the launch of the country's first space agency. The Korea Aerospace Administration (KASA) will lead the country's "space economy," with hundreds of businesses and enterprises working to catapult South Korea into the ranks of the world's top five space powers, Yoon said.

NASA's Lucy spacecraft unlocks asteroid Dinkinesh's dynamic history

A little asteroid called Dinkinesh - visited last November by NASA's Lucy spacecraft - has a surprisingly dynamic history, according to scientists, along with its moonlet Selam that is comprised of two bodies that gently melded into one. Dinkinesh and Selam are the smallest asteroids from our solar system's main asteroid belt, located between the planets Mars and Jupiter, ever seen up close by a spacecraft. Lucy observed ridges, trough structures and other characteristics on Dinkinesh that hint at a complicated past for the asteroid and its companion, the researchers said on Wednesday.

China's Galactic Energy launches rocket carrying satellites, state media reports

Chinese company Galactic Energy successfully launched its Ceres-1 rocket carrying satellites into orbit on Wednesday, state media reported, in the latest sign of the growing strength of China's commercial space sector. The Beijing-based company was forced to apologise to its customers last September after a failed launch of a Ceres-1 rocket, which is capable of delivering a 300kg payload to a 500km sun-synchronous orbit.

Indian space startup Agnikul launches country's second privately built rocket

India's Agnikul Cosmos launched its Agnibaan rocket for the first time on Thursday, powered by the only Indian rocket engine to use both gas and liquid fuel in the country's second flight of a privately built rocket. The Agnibaan's first flight had been called off four times in the last two months because of technical issues. The most recent cancellation was Tuesday, when launch was aborted five seconds before lift-off.

Startup Ursa Major advances US hypersonic capabilities with new engine

Ursa Major, a startup rocket motor maker, has successfully test-fired its new Draper engine more than 50 times on the ground, the company said on Thursday, marking a significant advance in U.S. hypersonic and in-space propulsion technologies. Berthoud, Colorado-based Ursa Major's testing is the latest achievement by U.S. companies scrambling to build more advanced engines for missiles and spacecraft that American officials see as crucial deterrents to threats from adversaries such as hypersonic weapons - those that move more than five times the speed of sound - in and beyond Earth's atmosphere.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)